The Geek Beat: ‘Avatar’ Comics, an R-rated Batman and More New York Comic-Con Highlights

This year’s New York Comic-Con is in the rearview mirror, and all that’s left is to look back on the east coast convergence of all things geeky and try to make sense of all the news that came out of the convention.

New York’s major comic convention tends to be a bit lighter on the movie elements than its San Diego counterpart, but this year’s show still featured quite a bit of noteworthy announcements and big reveals tied to some past and much-anticipated future movie projects. From Avatar comics to a rated-”R” Batman movie, there was a lot to digest at this year’s convention.

Here are some of the highlights from the movie side of the show.

James Cameron’s Avatar Heads to Comics

During the NYCC panel for Dark Horse Comics, the publisher announced plans to partner with Avatar filmmaker James Cameron on a series of comics based on the film and the fantastic creatures that made the 2009 sci-fi blockbuster the highest-grossing movie of all time.

Cameron recorded a video announcing the deal that was aired during the panel (courtesy of EW).

“I’m excited that starting now, even before the release of the first sequel, Dark Horse Comics will be bringing you new adventures from Pandora,” said Cameron. “Covering the time before, during, and after the events of the original Avatar film. For the past 27 years, Dark Horse has been associated with my films The Terminator, Aliens, and The Abyss. Now they’re working directly with me and our team at Lightstorm in an unprecedented ten-year partnership that’s going to create new stories that will take you deeper into the world of Avatar.”

There’s no word on when the Avatar comics will hit shelves, but Dark Horse did debut some art from the project.

So The Hulk and The Joker Walk Into A Comic Convention…

It’s become something of a tradition now for geek-friendly actors to don masks – or in some cases, full costumes – and walk the floor of the convention, taking photos with fans who have no idea who’s under the mask. This year, it was a pair of high-profile actors from Marvel and DC projects that took the costume challenge.

Representing Marvel was the Hulk himself, Mark Ruffalo, who posted a photo on the convention floor while wearing a creepy rubber mask.

From the DC Comics (or in this case, Warner Bros. Pictures) contingent, Suicide Squad actor Jared Leto ditched the Joker makeup for an elaborate monkey mask and not only posted some photos from the convention floor, but also posed for a photo with someone dressed up as Leto’s version of the Clown Prince of Crime.

The Tiger Bunny television series is already a big hit among anime fans, but its audience could grow quite a bit with the news that a live-action film is in the works with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment attached as producers. The series is set in a futuristic city where corporate-sponsored superheroes fight crime and compete for the public’s favor in televised reality shows, and follows a veteran hero nicknamed “Wild Tiger” and his new partner, a young hero named “Bunny.”

Along with a wildly popular television series, Tiger Bunny spawned a 2011 manga, two video games, a stage play, and a pair of critically praised (and financially successful) animated features. There’s no word on when the live-action movie will go into development, but it’s never too early to get acquanited with the series.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Aim For The Big Screen

The ’60s superhero team T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents has undergone multiple reboots and relaunches over the years, but now the team of super-powered United Nations agents could be headed to Hollywood. During one of the weekend comic-con panels, veteran Batman producers Michael and David Uslan announced (as reported by Newsarama) that a T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents movie is being developed with screenwriters Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton (Blood Soldiers: Interrogation, The Thirst).

Described as a cross between The Avengers and the Jason Bourne films, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents movie will not only feature some involvement from the real-world U.N., but also feature a cameo from Stan Lee.

Batman: The Killing Joke Could Be Rated “R”

The upcoming animated feature based on Alan Moore and Bruce Timm’s celebrated graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke could arrive on shelves with an “R” rating, according to producer James Tucker.

During the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment panel at NYCC, Tucker revealed (as reported by Stitch Kingdom) that DC Comics is open to letting the adaptation of the very adult-oriented story hit shelves with an “R” rating – but added that the project might not actually receive that rating. Given the subject matter of the story, however, anyone familiar with The Killing Joke will probably wonder how a faithful adaptation could be anything but an “R”-rated affair.

Hulkbuster, I Presume?

No description necessary here – just watch the video.

Question of the Week:What movie news coming out of NYCC are you most excited about?

Rick Marshall is an award-winning writer and editor whose work can be found at Movies.com, as well as MTV News, Fandango, Digital Trends, IFC.com, Newsarama, and various other online, print, and on-air news outlets. He’s been called a “Professional Geek” by ABC News and Spike TV, and his personal blog can be found at MindPollution.org. You can find him on Twitter as@RickMarshall.